Dad was helping his toddler into the car when a truck sped toward them — his split-second reaction saved them, but left lasting consequences
No one wants to be in a position where they have to choose between their own life and the lives of their loved ones. For one dad, Jordan Stannard, there was no doubt about what he was going to do in one such situation. In a report shared by ABC 7 News on Monday, June 29, 2026, it was revealed how the man heroically put himself between a speeding truck and his 2-year-old daughter, Sadie, at Venice Boulevard and Abbot Kinney Boulevard. The dad left the grocery store with his family and headed to his parked car. He was putting the toddler into the car when the vehicle came barreling toward them. He threw her into her seat while taking the impact of the crash.
Stannard noticed the truck coming in their direction, and with just seconds to act, he threw his daughter into the seat and was struck by the vehicle. "I remember the truck fully hitting my body and hitting me and twisting me around,” he recalled. While Sadie was unharmed, the man suffered serious injuries to his foot. He said it looked like it had been “blown off.” As a result, doctors had to amputate his leg below the knee. Although it was a traumatic experience, the dad is grateful that his toddler was unharmed. He shudders to think what could have happened to her. Considering that, he doesn’t regret his split-second decision one bit.
"If you told me, 'You just have to trade your foot to be with your daughters for the rest of your life,' that's a trade that I would make all day long," he remarked. While his lifestyle has now been completely altered, Stannard continues to recover. A GoFundMe has been set up to help with his medical and other expenses. So far, $110,336 has been raised. Parents will go above and beyond to protect their children. In another instance, a mom named Ashleigh Schroeder managed to save two of her children and their friends while at the Saint Louis Zoo. The woman noticed thick clouds and knew that what she thought was a thunderstorm was something far more dangerous.
She quickly took them to the monkey house, where there was a basement, and held them tightly as a tornado passed overhead. "I was trying so hard to keep them calm and not scared to death because I was already scared to death,” she recalled. She told them the sound was likely just a dryer. After the ordeal was over, she went outside and found debris and fallen trees everywhere. The damage was severe, but her decision to rush the kids to safety beforehand made all the difference. The family eventually returned home after receiving the all-clear from the staff.